Golden Crow Became Taotie

Sun Star, Sun Temple.

Four figures sat here: Tai Yi, Lu Jun, Minghe, and Zhen Yuanzi.

The atmosphere was so grave it seemed water could drip from it.

Eastern Emperor Tai Yi sat high in the seat of honor, his expression solemn.

Chaos Qi faintly swirled around him, while the phantom of the Chaos Bell rose and fell behind him, an invisible pressure blanketing the entire hall.

It served as both a deterrent and a means of maintaining this fragile balance.

Ancestor Minghe and Great Immortal Zhen Yuan, these mortal enemies, now sat facing each other across a jade table condensed from pure True Sun Fire.

Minghe wore crimson Daoist robes, with the Karma Fire Red Lotus slowly revolving beneath him.

He appeared calm, yet his vigilance and a barely perceptible unease refused to leave him.

Facing Zhen Yuanzi's boundless killing intent, nearly solidified and as biting as ten thousand years of black ice—

Even as lord of the Blood Sea, he felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, with no certainty in his heart.

Tai Yi's promise was certainly a protective talisman, but he knew better than anyone how deep this old Daoist's obsession with Hongyun ran.

If the temptation of "One Attainment, Eternal Attainment" had not been so immense, he would never have placed himself in such peril.

He would not die, of course, but he would certainly lose face.

Besides, he himself owed Hongyun a karmic debt over that matter. Before Zhen Yuanzi, it was impossible for him to put on a tough front.

Zhen Yuanzi wore Daoist robes, his features ancient and austere. Holding the Book of the Earth, he fixed Minghe with a gaze like two tangible swords of icy frost.

Had Tai Yi not been suppressing them from between, the two would have long since overturned heaven and earth once more.

Lu Jun sat slightly to the side. Feeling the nearly suffocating atmosphere, countless emotions stirred within him.

Not long ago, he had merely been a prince of the Demon Race.

Who would have thought that one day, he would sit at the same table as colossal figures standing at the very peak of the Prehistoric World, such as Ancestor Minghe and Zhen Yuanzi, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals?

Though he knew that he had been invited here entirely because of Uncle Tai Yi's influence, as well as the uniqueness brought about by his Golden Crow Nirvana.

He composed his Mind and Spirit, and a doubt that had lingered in his heart grew ever clearer.

It was said that when Ancestor Hongyun fell, his famed Innate Spiritual Treasure—the Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd—seemed to have fallen into Minghe's hands?

Perhaps he would receive an answer to that question today.

Lu Jun drew a deep breath. Bearing the invisible pressure, he looked at Minghe and broke the silence, his clear voice carrying a trace of perfectly measured respect.

"Senior Minghe, this junior has a question. I do not know whether I should ask it."

His voice was not loud, yet at this moment, it sounded exceptionally clear.

Minghe's crimson eyes instantly turned toward Lu Jun, his gaze flashing like lightning as he scrutinized him.

Only now did he have the chance to carefully examine this Sixth Prince Golden Crow who was rumored to have undergone Nirvana Rebirth.

"What is it?"

Minghe stared at Lu Jun, a flicker of astonishment passing through his eyes.

The aura of the Golden Crow Crown Prince before him was unbelievably profound.

His realm clearly remained within the early stage of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

Yet the energy contained within him was so vast and pure that it far surpassed those of the same realm, even faintly touching the threshold of Great Luo!

What shocked him even more was Lu Jun's fleshly body—it was no ordinary Golden Crow Divine Body, but possessed a terrifying sense of primordial, savage power that devoured all things.

Merely sitting there, he seemed to make the light around his body twist and dim slightly.

It was as though an invisible vortex were slowly turning, greedily drawing in all the energy around it.

Even space and time became viscous beneath this power, slowing for an instant.

"Taotie..."

A name representing the ultimate ferocity of the Prehistoric World's Fierce Beast era instantly surfaced in Ancestor Minghe's Sea of Consciousness.

That instinctive pressure of devouring all things had faintly reappeared upon this Golden Crow Crown Prince!

Even Minghe himself would not dare claim certain victory against the Chaos Fierce Beast Taotie at the height of its power.

Could it be that Golden Crow Nirvana not only meant Rebirth from Fire, but could also return one to the origin and reproduce the ferocious might of the Fierce Beasts from the dawn of Creation of Heaven?

Or was it that the path of "Nirvana" taken by the brothers itself pointed toward that terrifying Great Dao of devouring all things and returning them to chaos?

It was not only Minghe. Zhen Yuanzi, whose killing intent had been primarily locked onto Minghe all along, also diverted a strand of his blade-sharp gaze toward Lu Jun.

The eyes of this Ancestor of Earth Immortals were deep and inscrutable. He seemed to see something indescribable within Lu Jun, yet perhaps he was simply examining a variable.

No one knew what lay in his heart.

Faced with the scrutiny of these two colossal figures, Lu Jun showed little reaction.

He had long grown accustomed to the strange changes brought by his Nirvana, as well as the probing looks that followed.

Instead, he met Minghe's gaze and, with a serious expression, asked the question that had long circled in his mind:

"Senior Minghe, I heard that after Senior Hong Yun fell, his natal Spiritual Treasure, the 'Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd,' fell into your hands. Is that... true?"

"Buzz!!!"

The instant Lu Jun's words fell, the entire Sun Temple seemed to have been plunged into an abyss of absolute zero!

Time solidified.

Space froze.

The boundless killing intent around Zhen Yuanzi, which Tai Yi had forcibly suppressed like a dormant volcano, erupted with a thunderous crash!

The Book of the Earth in his hand suddenly blazed with dazzling earthen-yellow divine light. A pressure as heavy as the land of the Prehistoric World instantly filled the entire divine hall, and spiderweb cracks silently spread across the jade table.

He whipped his head around. His gaze was no longer merely fixed on Minghe; like two arrows burning with icy flames from the Nine Netherworlds, it stabbed viciously toward Lu Jun!

The grief, fury, and terrifying murderous intent of having his Reverse Scale touched in that gaze made Lu Jun's Primordial Spirit ache instantly, as though hundreds of millions of divine mountains had come crashing down upon his head!

"You insolent brat! How dare you speak recklessly of Dao Friend Hong Yun's legacy!"

Zhen Yuanzi's voice exploded through the divine hall like Divine Thunder from the highest heavens, every word carrying fury enough to rend heaven and earth.

If Tai Yi had not been here, if the temptation of "One Attainment, Eternal Attainment" had not still offered a sliver of hope—

He would have nearly struck at once, crushing this Golden Crow Crown Prince who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth, and who dared mention Hong Yun's legacy, along with Minghe!

To him, bringing up the Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd at a time like this was nothing less than an insult.

Had Tai Yi truly forgotten how the Demon Race had helped Kun Peng deal with Hong Yun?

Was this an attempt to use the Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd to utterly provoke my bottom line?

Did they truly think I no longer dared lay a hand on the Demon Race?

Tai Yi's brows knitted tightly. The Phantom of the Chaos Bell gave a faint tremor, and an invisible ripple spread outward.

It forcibly smoothed out the impact Zhen Yuanzi's erupting aura had caused to the space within the divine hall, while also blocking more than half of the terrifying pressure directed at Lu Jun.

But Tai Yi's expression darkened as well. Lu Jun's question had undoubtedly lit another fuse atop the powder keg they had only just suppressed.

Ancestor Minghe's expression also turned extraordinarily ugly in an instant, even faintly bluish.

He had never imagined that this Golden Crow Crown Prince, who appeared to be merely listening in, would open his mouth and ask such a fatal question!

This was simply putting him over a fire to roast!

Bloody light flickered wildly in his scarlet eyes, where shock, fury, wariness, and the shame-born rage of having his secret exposed intertwined.

He stared fixedly at Lu Jun, then swiftly glanced at Zhen Yuanzi, whose killing intent had nearly solidified into substance. Finally, his gaze swept across the grave-faced Tai Yi.

Sixth Prince, asking this question so suddenly at a time like this... could it be...

Was this Tai Yi's arrangement?